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Former Davenport North coach/special ed teacher sentenced

A former Davenport North High School teacher/coach was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to several charges involving sexual contact with a student.

A former Davenport North High School teacher/coach was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to several charges involving sexual contact with a student.

Daniel Schneiderman, 37, resigned his positions as a special education teacher and head coach of the boys’ varsity basketball team at Davenport North, after he was arrested and charged for a relationship with a girl that reportedly began when the victim was 14 years old.

Schneiderman was originally charged in late August 2013 after an affidavit filed in court accused him of making sexually explicit comments to the victim, exchanging sexually explicit text messages with her and of using his cell phone to send a photo of his genitalia to the victim.

A separate complaint filed in November 2013 alleged Schneiderman also took the girl out of classes in an attempt to have sexual contact with her, and that he had physical contact with the victim during school hours. He was also accused of threatening to hurt or kill the victim if she told anyone about their relationship.

Court records show the cases were consolidated in December 2013, and Schneiderman pleaded guilty in March 2014 to two counts of sexual exploitation by a school employee, first-degree harassment, three counts of telephone dissemination of obscene material to a minor and one count of third-degree sexual abuse.

Schneiderman was sentenced Thursday, April 24, 2014 to ten years in prison.  Once released, he will be required to register as a sex offender.

The father of a victim had the opportunity to speak to the judge in court at the sentencing Thursday.

“There’s certain things about your kid, that you learn and this is very bad, very bad and when she’s telling you she don’t want to go to school, her grades went way down,” he said. “You let a person like this teach your kids, they’re in an environment where you trust people, that’s why they are there, and this should not go on.”

Schneiderman also spoke at the sentencing hearing.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could change things that happened. I’ve failed in so many levels. I’ve failed as a father, as a husband, as a friend, a teacher and a role model for students and athletes,” he said.

When the hearing ended, Schneiderman was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

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